Can the Lady Griz steal a victory in Bozeman?
Or will Montana State continue to steal their way to a historically great Big Sky Conference season and take another step toward hanging a banner at the Brick by dominating Montana yet again?
In a rivalry rich with story lines, the dynamic of taking care of the ball if you are the visitors or causing yet another opponent to unravel by taking the ball away if you’re the host Bobcats is perhaps the most important.
Montana State is off to one of the greatest starts in the history of the program and the history of the conference. The Bobcats carry a 17-game winning streak into Saturday afternoon’s matinee at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, which is tied for the longest winning streak in MSU women’s hoops history with the 2019-2020 Bobcats. MSU is 14-0 in conference play and 24-2 overall. The Bobcats sit at No. 54 nationally in the net rankings and are ranked No. 10 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
MSU has surged to nearly unprecedented heights — the 2020 team went 19-1 in conference and 25-6 overall but did not get a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament when that year’s Big Dance was called off because of COVID-19 — thanks in large part to a veteran-laden, deep roster and a ferocious, trapping defense that ranks third in the country by snaring 14.3 steals per game. Montana State is forcing nearly 24 turnovers per contest overall, which also ranks in the Top 10 nationally.
“I don’t talk about the winning streaks with the kids, I don’t talk about the comparisons with the best teams ever, but what I talk about constantly is that this week is back to getting back to champion habit week,” Binford said.
“The standard is the standard no matter what and when you see us rotate kids, the way they compete never stops. The way they compete to that final buzzer should never change and we’ve intentionally recruited kids like that. That’s really where they know they are going to be challenged to grow.”
The Lady Griz have had a high propensity of turnovers at their worst moments during a tumultuous season that has included a pair of three-game losing streaks in conference play with a nice surge in between. But the last time Montana played Montana State, interim UM head coach Nate Harris told his team that the barometer for turnovers in the contest would be 18.
The Ronan native, who stepped in after former head coach Brian Holsinger was abruptly put on leave before resigning two weeks ago, knew that if his team turned the ball over 18 times or less in the first rivalry matchup at Dahlberg Arena, the Lady Griz could have a chance to compete.
Montana turned the ball over 17 times and lost 67-66. UM had a chance to win the game in the waning seconds when Harris called an in-bounds lob at the rim that Avery Waddington caught but could not finish before MSU’s Ella Johnson secured the rebound to secure a win that was Montana State’s most highly contested during the current winning streak.
“Their whole goal is to speed you up and get those turnovers so we have to stay really calm, know where you are supposed to pass the ball and sticking to the plan is really the best way to break a press,” said UM senior guard MJ Bruno earlier this week. “We will have to remember that. They want to speed us up, so how do we slow this down, find the right player? We broke the press before, so we can do it again.”
Binford certainly gave respect to her former assistant in Harris, who spent four seasons on her staff at MSU before spending two years coaching Division II in Texas ahead of returning to his home state to coach for the Lady Griz.
“We need to be better,” Binford said. “Montana exposed us in so many ways. That outcome could’ve gone the other way. Nate had a great end of game play call that had a great look. We need to get better in some areas so we are not exposed. We have to make them earn what they get because he will have them ready.”
When Holsinger was first put on administrative leave, Harris’s presence on the sideline seemed to give the Lady Griz a jolt. UM halted a three-game losing skid by sweeping Weber State and Idaho State at home before losing the third game in a five-day stretch, 70-57, to Idaho.
The following outing, Montana came a last-second shot away from giving the ‘Cats their first conference loss.
The Lady Griz then won three in a row, beating Portland State, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado. The roller coaster went back down, starting with giving up 96 points in a 20-point loss to Northern Arizona, the most points allowed to an opponent by a Lady Griz team ever at Dahlbrerg Arena.
Last weekend, the losing streak reached three after losses at Idaho State (66-46) and Weber State (73-69). Montana sits at 6-8 in league play to sit in sixth place with four games left to play. UM finishes the season after the rivalry game with three games against teams it has already beaten (Sac State & Portland State in Missoula, Eastern Washington in Cheney), yet an upset win in Bozeman could prove to be a signature moment for an otherwise chaotic season.
“One of the most beautiful things in life is you get to choose your response, when it’s good, when it’s bad, when it’s everything in between. This hasn’t been our best stretch, but every team in the nation has peaks and valleys, they are up and they are down,” Harris said. “With everything we’ve been through, our peaks and valleys are probably higher and lower than most teams. We are in a little bit of a valley, but I know we will fight back.”
Since the retirement of Robin Selvig after 38 unprecedented and successful seasons leading the Lady Griz, the tables have turned in Montana State’s favor both in the rivalry and in terms of Big Sky Conference dominance. A regular-season title this year would mark the fifth in the last nine seasons under Binford’s guidance and she’s won Big Sky Coach of the Year four times.
It’s now Binford who’s the longest tenured head coach in the league as she navigates her 20th season, which is already one of her best and might end up as one of the best seasons in league history. MSU’s win over Montana last month helped Binford even her record against UM at 20-20 thanks to winning 14 of the 17 matchups since Selvig retired following the 2016 season.
“February is the month where you try to get separation and win a championship,” Binford said. “It’s not easy. A lot of teams get burned out at this place in a season. And this team seems as hungry as ever.”
To listen to Montana State’s players talk, the message and the narrative are both consistent. Conversations about winning streaks and undefeated conference records are deflected in favor of talking about the standards of the program and keeping a process-oriented, daily improvement mindset.
But the one thing that was openly talked about this week by Montana State’s senior players, particularly players like KJ (Limardo) Martin and Taylor Janssen who have been Bobcats for the duration of their college careers, is finishing their careers with an undefeated home record against the Lady Griz. MSU has won 10 straight rivalry games at Worthington Arena.
“One more chance to beat them on our home court and ready to put the nail in the coffin, go out there and get a win,” said MSU senior KJ (Limardo) Martin earlier this week. “We are really excited and we are all bought into this week and what we need to do to get a win.”
